THE OPENING weekend of a newly restored railway line in Mountsorrel was hailed ‘hugely successful’ after the two-day event saw around 1,100 visitors.

The latest addition of the Great Central Railway had been undertaken by volunteers from the local community and beyond.

The project started eight years ago by a desire of the local people to protect their heritage, and has since captured the hearts of surrounding communities.

The railway line opened to the public last weekend on October 24-25 and families had the opportunity to take part in train rides and see what the volunteers had accomplished.

Volunteer project leader Steve Cramp said: “The opening was hugely successful and all of the trains sold out over the weekend.

“Around 1,100 people visited the railway line which is a heck of a lot for one weekend.

“It’s an amazing feeling for us all, you get a handful of days throughout your life which feel really special and this was one of them. So much hard word work has gone into the railway, 80,000 hours of work over eight years with 200 volunteers.

“The vast majority of the volunteers are from the local area however there were some that came from much further afield.

“One of our volunteers came from Paris once every five weeks, they would catch the Eurostar and come to Mountsorrel.

“There were a lot of happy people and smiling faces over the weekend.”

Commenting on the future plans for the railway, Steve added: “The railway line is part of the Great Central Railway, and they will take all of the data from over the weekend and come up with an operating plan for next year.”

The group not only restored the railway line but also set out to create a brand new railway station in Mountsorrel.

Thanks to a grant of £66,000 from Tarmac’s Landfil Community fund, and hard work by the volunteers, Mountsorrel now has a railway station on Bond Lane.